Food has always been a love language for me. If I’m cooking for you, its my way of saying I love you and I want to take care of you. I love to go out to eat, to cook for others, and to share delicious recipes with all of you! One of the best parts about creating recipes for a blog is the food photography aspect. You get to use your imagination and hands on experience to create a fully staged meal. It’s like painting and sculpting…but with food.
I started blogging my own recipe creations back in September of 2013. I’ve always loved to cook, I’d graduated college 4 months earlier, and I thought recipes would be a great addition to my new lifestyle blog. The first recipe I ever shared was from a fun fall football day at C’s parents old house. I wanted to make drinks and sandwiches perfect for fall and football which resulted in Carmel Apple Cider Cocktails and Buffalo Chicken Grilled Cheeses. While the recipes were delicious… the post and photos were horrendous! So why have I never deleted the post? Because I think it’s really important to see where I started out and how much I’ve grown as a blogger and photographer with some backdrops. Lets check out the difference from my 2013 post to a new grilled cheese recipe from two weeks ago.
Crazy right!? The photos on the left were taken in a dark kitchen with no added lighting, flash photography, and never edited. And while it pains me to leave it up, being able to compare it to my photo on the right makes all the time and hard work put into this blog makes it all worth it. I’ve been blogging for 2.5 years now and I’ve learned a lot. So here I’ve collected 10 Food Photography Tips for Beginner Food Bloggers. Go get photographing!
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1.Lighting
Lighting is probably the most important thing when it comes to food photography. It’s definitely something you learn overtime but trying little things like photographing next to a large window or using a photo light can make a huge difference in your photographs and how your food looks.
I use this Limo Studio light
2. Multiple Angles
When you first start out, it’s okay to take 50 photos and only use a few. Try out different angles, moving your plate around, and testing different lighting areas. As you grow you’ll find your own style you love.
3. Editing Colors
When you upload your photos to your computer, your foods will not be true to color. Camera’s pick up colors from everywhere so your photos could be very yellow, pink, blue, or green. Most photos will need a little editing. Use a simple white balance edit to bring your foods back to true color. You can further edit your photos as well using my favorite process of Brighter and more Colorful photos.
4. Composition
Getting really creative with your photos can be a lot of fun but remember not to go overboard. Remember that composition is really important for all photos. For example, cropped photos are great, but remember not to crop too tight! You still want to be able to tell what the photo is of. A mixture of a full view of the food, sharp details, white space, and simple added styling is a great rule to live by.
5. Styling
Without even noticing, our eyes are drawn more to the photo on the right than on the left. This is because the photo on the left looks boring, staged and with little to no creativity, aka not much to look at. While the photo on the right, while still staged, gives off a lifestyle feel. It makes the viewer want to create your recipe, hoping theres will come out just as naturally beautiful to share with others. Little touches like letting crumbs naturally fall, adding in a napkin or pretty spoon, or the recipe’s ingredients draped around the dish add that extra level of creativity to the photos you’ve been craving.
(photo on left credit: Pinterest - blurry, all one color, too close (I am in no way discrediting this persons photo, just simply showing a comparison option) | photo on right credit: Myself - showing the main component, added color pops with the lime and coconut so you know those ingredients are in the bars - Key Lime Larabar recipe)
6. Save a Little
Some styling techniques you have to think about before you even start cooking. Say you’re making a dish with raspberries, remember to save a few from the batch and toss them around the dish just before photographing. Remembering to save a little bit of your ingredients for photo details is a really easy food styling tactic.
7. Action!
Action shots are great to add to the mix. It really makes the reader feel like they’re in your kitchen with you and part of the whole experience. These are a little more difficult and require a helping hand or a tripod and timer.
8. Props Collecting
Props and accessories are such a fun way to style your photos and make them more interesting. Those extra saved food from #6 are great props. Nonfood options include spoons, patterned napkins, fun plates and granite counter tops. I found the best way to create a food photography prop collection is to slowly add unique pieces you find at Goodwill, thrift stores, and estate sales. Anthropologie has great pieces if you want to splurge!
9. Personal Style
When you think about food photography, especially on Pinterest and Instagram you probably think very bright, colorful, and overall happy feel. But there are many types of food photography, one of my favorite being the dark and moody feel, which you can see in these posts here and here. Don’t be afraid to go from one style to another, it’s a fun way to test what you like!
10. Have fun!
If you’ve styled your photos, edited them, created a post and didn’t not only enjoy the process but felt like it was work, then food blogging probably isn’t for you. Food blogging and food photography is a lot of work but also a lot of fun and an amazing way to show your creativity across so many platforms. Think about it… food bloggers go through a process of
- creating a recipe
- staging photos
- photographing the dish
- editing the photos
- and writing a recipe and post
and we love it!! Remember to enjoy the process and embrace the creativity that comes along with it. Do you have any tried and true food photography blogging tips?
